Sunday, April 6, 2008

Walking the Trails of Life!

Most of you know that I love the outdoors. I don’t have to be hunting, fishing, or riding my four wheeler, to enjoy it. Just being out there, in the heart of God’s amazing creation is enough for me.

As I look back over the years, I remember many times that I have been walking down a trail in the woods when I came to a crossroad. It amazes me to look at the paths animals take and as I come to those cross trails try to figure out which one I need to take. It is that decision that can make my hunt successful, my hike less strenuous, or my scouting trip worth the time I put into it. If I chose the wrong trail, it may lead me to a bedding area where the game I am pursuing feels safe and once I have interrupted that area I might as well go home. Or it could lead me through a thicket of briars and as we all know, those are no fun.

It would be best for me to stand at those cross roads and examine the paths, take a moment to think things through. Which ones look the “best,” or the straightest?

Doesn’t God call us to carefully pick the trails of life that we travel? Look at Jeremiah 6:16 “This is what the Lord says: Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves.” Then again in Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.”

Are you are someone you know at a difficult intersection of life? I urge us all to take the time to study the paths and try to pick the trail most pleasing to Him!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Sowing Seeds of Faith!

When I was a young boy I spent many days with my grandparents, especially during the spring and summer. They lived on a small farm in Northeast Mississippi. They had chickens and pigs and my grandfather tended to cows on the farm next to them. A lot of our food came from what they raised on our farm.

One of the things I remember most was the loving care my grandmother put into her garden. She was preparing the field for planting as soon as my grandfather broke the ground in the early spring. She would make sure her rows were straight and all the sticks and debris were out of the loose dirt.

The greatest memory is when it came time to plant. The care she took with the seeds, the love that she put into each and everyone was evident. She took an amazing amount of time on each and every hole, pulling the dirt in the perfect way and placing the seeds at the perfect depth. She knew that by putting that much love into every little seed she sowed, she would reap the most at harvest time.

Doesn’t God call each of us to take that much love and care in each and every seed of faith we sow. If we just throw seeds of faith out into the field, will the winds of the devil not blow them away? Will the floods of sin not wash them away? Consider what Jesus tells the crowds in Mark 4:3-9 “Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow. As he sowed, this occurred: Some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it sprang up right away, since it didn’t have deep soil. When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it didn’t have a root, it withered. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce a crop. Still others fell on good ground and produced a crop that increased 30, 60, and 100 times what was sown.” Then he said, “Anyone who has ears should listen!”

God calls us to sow seeds of faith, but to sow them cautiously so that His harvest will be great. I challenge us all today to go and prepare the fields of faith, sow seeds with love and compassion, and wait on the harvest!